Wealthy businessman Percival Lowell was a 19th century astronomer who claimed to have found the ninth planet, although scientists claimed no such planet exists.
The unconfirmed planet was named Planet X and created a base for it conspiracy theorists who claimed this would cause the end of the world.
Does Planet X really exist?
Percival Lowell was one rich businessman-turned-astronomer in the 19th century after he reportedly read a book about it Mars and was inspired to study the universe.
While searching for phenomena through the lens of a telescope, Lowell made numerous conspiracy claims, including the belief that he had found the ninth planet, which he named Planet X.
Although Lowell never saw the planet, he remained convinced of its existence and when he died in 1916, he left $1 million to fund research that would locate the elusive Planet
Astronomers continued to search for the ninth planet and thought they had found it when in 1930 they discovered Pluto, which later turned out to be a dwarf planet.
The search for Planet X ended in 1989 when astronomers concluded that the planet never existed and that the search had been in vain.
However, the search was revisited after two astronomers discovered the Kuiper Belt in 1992 and discovered three other dwarf planets: Sedna (about 40 percent the size of Pluto), Quaoar (about half the size of Pluto) and Eris (almost the same size). like Pluto).
The discovery showed a pull from outside the immediate universe affecting Sedna, taking it from the center of our solar system, which is about 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from the Sun, to over 84 billion miles (134 billion kilometers), meaning it would take 11,000 years to to complete his job.
Astronomers believed that this discovery meant that there could be a planet outside our solar system that is between five and ten times larger Soil.
More than 130 years after Lowell declared the existence of a ninth planet in 1855, scientists have still not managed to find it, but Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin continue their search.
Brown and Batygin are professors of planetary sciences at Caltech co-author of their article suggest that a huge planet exists.
“I didn’t have a particularly strong sense of how difficult it would be to find Planet Nine until I started searching with Mike using telescopes,” Batygin told the newspaper. BBC.
“The reason it’s such a difficult search is because most astronomical studies don’t look for just one thing.”
He told the outlet that their options to search for the ninth planet are limited because they only get three nights a year to use the lab’s telescope.
Despite the telescope’s limited capabilities, he said, “The good news is that the Vera Rubin telescope will come online within the next few years, and they will probably find it.”
What are the Planet X Conspiracy Theories?
Conspiracy theorists first predicted that Planet X would cause the end of the world in 2003, which they believed would crash into Earth and cause its complete destruction.
Planet YouTube videos and websites that contribute to the judgement day theory.
David Morrison, a planetary astronomer at NASA Ames Research Center and senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiological Institute and NASA Lunar Science Institute further said Website of the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SERVI). that he receives about five emails every day asking about the destruction of the Earth.
“At least once a week I get a message from a young person – only 11 years old – saying he is ill and/or considering suicide because of the coming doomsday,” Morrison told SERVI in 2012.
Although followers of this conspiracy theory first believed that doomsday would occur in 2003, Nancy Lieder was the first person to predict such an event in 1995.
Lieder claimed that aliens in the Zeta Reticuli star system were sending her messages through an implant they placed in her brain. She claimed that they told her that Planet X would crash into Earth in 2003, essentially wiping out the entire civilization.
However, when her prophecy did not come true, her followers chose 2012 as the expected year for the collision, which coincided with other doomsday conspiracy theories and the end of the Mayan calendar which many believed foretold the end of the world because it ended that year . .
Morrison advised those who follow conspiracy theories to gauge their belief system based on mainstream news rather than the opinion of an anonymous source online.
“Like [a story] is real, it will probably be in the mainstream news media and not just posted on some website,” Morrison told the outlet, adding, “Not everyone who claims on YouTube is a scientist or an employee of NASA is. But there is no simple way to distinguish truth from lies.”
Why are scientists fed up?
The conspiracy theory that Planet
Scientists have said they are fed up with the significant amount of misinformation circulating online, and Morrison expressed disdain at the SETI Institute podcast in 2017 after being asked about claims of a third apocalypse in three months.
“You’re asking me for a logical explanation for a completely illogical idea,” he said. ‘There is no such planet, never has been and probably never will be – but it keeps popping up.’
He said NASA had considered responding for fear of legitimizing doomsday claims, but after receiving an email from a 12-year-old girl who said she and her classmates feared the end of the world, they decided them that they had to say something.
Morrison began posting YouTube videos educating young viewers about misinformation and conspiracy theories, and informing them that Planet X does not exist.
When Morrison’s website was flooded with comments and predictions about the alleged collision of Planet X and Earth in 2012, He wrote: “I assumed Nibiru was the kind of internet rumor that would pass quickly.
“I now get at least one question a day, ranging from an anguished ‘I can’t sleep;’ ‘I’m really scared;’ ‘I don’t want to die’ to the insulting ‘Why are you lying;’ ‘You’re endangering my family;’ “If NASA denies it, it must be true.”
NASA has finally spoken out in a 2012 statementsaying: “Nibiru [planet X] and other stories about wayward planets are an internet hoax.
“If Nibiru or Planet
We pay for your stories! Have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. That’s possible WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We also pay for videos. Click here to upload yours.